Mount Laurel Schools - Getting Ready For Kindergarten

Getting Ready For Kindergarten

Book cover Mom, its my first day of kindergarten

"Starting school can be scary and exciting for both you and your child. Effective kindergarten teachers know that children are individuals who each start kindergarten with a wide range of skills. You do not need to drill your child with letters, numbers, and facts, before school starts. But there are some things you can do to prepare both you and your child for kindergarten."

- Janis Strasser

Read Janis Strasser's article for the National Association for the Education of Young Children here on Transitioning to Kindergarten. She offers some very practical tips you can begin employing now to ease the transition.

Here's a brochure that will familiarize you with the basic facts you need coming into the Mount Laurel Schools for the kindergarten year. All those important things like transportation, lunch, before and after-school care, snow days, school emergencies, security and the best people to speak with when you are just unsure.

Check out all of the resources gathered together by Mount Laurel's Supervisor of Early Childhood Education, Mr. James DeSimone. He has compiled a list of resources in a number of areas that will help to acquaint you with not only our Program and Curricula, but also tips on Kindergarten Readiness and Transition, Social Emotional Development and Play, Literacy, Math, Science, Creative Arts and Multilingualism. You may find the following links helpful:

Programs and Curricula

Math: Investigations in Number, Data and Space, 3rd Edition

Writing and Phonics: Kid Writing in the 21st Century

Science: Building Blocks of Science 3D

Project-Based Learning with Supplemental Literacy and Math Lessons: The Creative Curriculum for Kindergarten

Assessment: Teaching Strategies GOLD

New Jersey Department of Education Kindergarten Resources

Resources:

Kindergarten Readiness and Transition

Transitioning to Kindergarten by Janis Strasser

Ready or Not Kindergarten, Here We Come! By Tracy Galuski

Readiness: Not a State of Knowledge, but a State of Mind by Dr. Dan Gartrell